"in December 2007 and prepared for service in 2008 for the Steam Packet. In service with Hoverspeed 1991–1992, 1993–1994, 1996–1997 and 1997–1998. Left fleet and sold in 1998, currently operating for Seajets in Greece as HSC Master Jet. Was renamed ""Hoverspeed Boulogne"" before entering service in 1992. In 1993 she was transferred to Sea Containers Ltd route from Frederikshavn to Gothenburg as ""Seacatamaran Danmark"", this was shortened to ""Seacat Danmark"" in 1994. Up to 1997 she provided overhall cover on various Hoverspeed and Sea Containers Ltd ferry routes but remained on Dover – Calais between 2000 and 2003. She was"
"service closed in 2000 following the opening of the Channel Tunnel (in 1994) and due to the age of the SR-N4 hovercraft. Seaspeed Seaspeed was the joint hovercraft operations of British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) in association with the French SNCF. British Rail Hovercraft Limited was established in 1965, under authority given to it by the British Railways Act 1967 and started its first service in 1966. Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover, England to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France using SR-N4 hovercraft in August 1968. The two hovercraft were named ""The Princess Margaret"" and ""The Princess Anne""; the"
"an SR.N6 to determine their suitability for the hovercraft service, which had been given the name Seaspeed. Amongst the most suitable candidates had been Dover or Folkestone on the English side and Calais or Boulogne on the French side would be most suitable. It was soon determined that Dover and Boulogne would be the preferable option for the maiden route, a decision that had been motivated in part by the local Chamber of Commerce having agreed to build a suitable hoverport to readily facilitate such operations. As there was no funding available for pre-service passenger trials, the opening season of"
"Seaspeed merged with rival Hoverlloyd in 1981 to create Hoverspeed. Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkestone, Newhaven, Southampton and Harwich for services to the European continent; Holyhead, Fishguard, Heysham and Stranraer for services to Ireland and the Isle of Man; Weymouth and Portsmouth for services to the Channel Islands. The Isle of Wight was also served from Portsmouth and Lymington. Sealink also operated the ""Steamer"" passenger ferry services on"
"HSC Hellenic Highspeed HSC ""Hellenic Highspeed"" (yard number 6000) is a high-speed craft (HSC) owned by Hellenic Seaways, having previously being owned by Sea Containers. She first entered services between Dover and Calais for Sea Containers subsidiary Hoverspeed in 1997, named HSC ""SuperSeaCat Two"" before moving to the Irish Sea in 1998 primarily for service between Liverpool and Dublin but also for Isle of Man Steam Packet services between Liverpool and Douglas. The vessel returned to Hoverspeed in 1999 to reopen the Newhaven-Dieppe route which had been closed by P&O Stena Line earlier that year. Her place on the Irish"
"Seaspeed Seaspeed was the joint hovercraft operations of British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) in association with the French SNCF. British Rail Hovercraft Limited was established in 1965, under authority given to it by the British Railways Act 1967 and started its first service in 1966. Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover, England to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France using SR-N4 hovercraft in August 1968. The two hovercraft were named ""The Princess Margaret"" and ""The Princess Anne""; the former featured in the James Bond film ""Diamonds Are Forever"". In 1976, work started to considerably lengthen both craft by inserting an"
"returning to Hoverspeed in 2002 as ""Seacat France"". She was chartered by Emeraude Ferries as ""Emeraude France"" for two months in 2005. She was sold to an unknown buyer for a reported US $2 million in February 2007 though has not yet departed her Tilbury lay-up. She was found to be sold to Maritime Charter Sales of Douglas, Isle of Man. She is to be used on the Isle of Man Steam Packet's routes starting Monday 12 March 2007. In service with Hoverspeed 1992–1993, 1999–2000, 2002 and 2004–2005. Left fleet in 2005. Sold in 2007 and currently (2018) operating in"
"to the French port of Dieppe, operated by LD Lines. Currently there are two sailings per day, one in the morning and one in the evening, using the 18,654 GT ro-ro MS ""Seven Sisters"". Rail passengers wishing to connect with the ferries are advised nationally to travel to and walk to the ferry terminal; this has resulted in a dramatic fall in passenger services at , leading to questions about its future. P&O Stena Line operated the Dieppe route until 1998, after which Hoverspeed operated the route until 2004. Because the French government did not want the route to be"
"hovercraft service run by Hoverspeed. Hoverspeed also ran catamaran services until being declared bankrupt in 2005. Another catamaran service ran from 2004 until November 2008 run by the single ship of SpeedFerries, ""SpeedOne"", with up to five services daily to Boulogne-sur-Mer. The Hoverport has now been demolished for re-development. The railway station, with its platforms filled in to create a roofed car park and new buildings added, re-opened as the Dover Cruise Terminal in the 1990s. It can accommodate up to three cruise ships at a time. In the north Docks, between the cruise terminal and the former Hoverport is"
"was eventually closed and all buildings completely demolished. Nonetheless, the hovercraft pad, car marshalling area and approach road are all still clearly identifiable. Hoverspeed continued cross Channel hovercraft operation until October 2000, when the last two craft were retired and the era of ‘hovering across the Channel’ came to an end. Hoverlloyd Hoverlloyd operated a cross-Channel hovercraft service between Ramsgate, England to Calais, France. It operated four SR.N4 type hovercraft and was a rival to Seaspeed (owned by British Rail). The origins of Hoverlloyd date back to 1964, when the Swedish Lloyd shipping company investigated the possibility of operating a"
"Hoverlloyd Hoverlloyd operated a cross-Channel hovercraft service between Ramsgate, England to Calais, France. It operated four SR.N4 type hovercraft and was a rival to Seaspeed (owned by British Rail). The origins of Hoverlloyd date back to 1964, when the Swedish Lloyd shipping company investigated the possibility of operating a hovercraft service. Together with Swedish American Line (owned by Brostroms Rederi AB), the Cross-Channel Hover Services Ltd was registered as a British company in 1965. The name was changed to Hoverlloyd Ltd in 1966. In 1976 Brostroms Rederi AB purchased the entire operation. Hoverlloyd commenced operations from Ramsgate Harbour to Calais"
"Portel) hoverport site remains, albeit long abandoned and derelict. Hoverspeed Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. The last owners were Sea Containers Ltd; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year. Hoverspeed is notable for its part in developing the hovercraft, and ran six SR.N4 Mountbatten class hovercraft and one SEDAM N500 Naviplane. Hoverspeed last operated hovercraft on its Dover to Calais service. They were withdrawn on 1 October 2000 and replaced by"
"Hoverspeed Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. The last owners were Sea Containers Ltd; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year. Hoverspeed is notable for its part in developing the hovercraft, and ran six SR.N4 Mountbatten class hovercraft and one SEDAM N500 Naviplane. Hoverspeed last operated hovercraft on its Dover to Calais service. They were withdrawn on 1 October 2000 and replaced by Seacat catamarans built by Incat. Throughout its history Hoverspeed"
"France. It successfully crossed the English Channel between Calais and Dover on 25 July 1959, 50 years to the day after the historic crossing by Bleriot. In January 1959, the NRDC formed a subsidiary called Hovercraft Development Ltd. Cockerell was the Technical Director and the company controlled the patents which it used to license several private sector firms to manufacture craft under the registered trademark of Hovercraft. Cockerell received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1971. In later life, Cockerell developed many other improvements to the hovercraft, and invented various other applications for the air cushion principle, such as"
"economical service than conventional ferries or catamarans. For 8 years GHL operated a passenger service up and down the River Thames in London, and hovercraft were the only vehicles allowed to operate at high speed along the river, as they produce very little wash or wake. Hovertravel currently uses a Griffon Hoverwork designed BHT craft to provide a passenger route between Southsea, Portsmouth and Ryde, Isle of Wight. Société des Traversiers du Québec in Québec, Canada was provided in 2012 with a 2000TD to operate a passenger service between Pakuashipi and Saint-Augustin during the periods the ice bridge linking the"
"Eurostar Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Amsterdam, Avignon, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Paris and Rotterdam. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated separately by Getlink. The London terminus is St Pancras International, the other British calling points being Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. Intermediate calling points in France are Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe, with trains to Paris terminating at Gare du Nord. Trains to Belgium terminate at Midi/Zuid station in Brussels. The only intermediate calling point in the Netherlands is Rotterdam Centraal, with trains terminating at"
"and materials (i.e. welded aluminium structure and diesel engines) rather than the aircraft techniques used to build the earlier craft built by Saunders-Roe-British Hovercraft Corporation. Over 20 million passengers had used the service as of 2004 – the service is still operating () and is by far the longest, continuously operated hovercraft service. In 1966, two cross-channel passenger hovercraft services were inaugurated using SR.N6 hovercraft. Hoverlloyd ran services from Ramsgate Harbour, England, to Calais, France, and Townsend Ferries also started a service to Calais from Dover, which was soon superseded by that of Seaspeed. As well as Saunders-Roe and Vickers"
"subsidiary, Sealink. Those ships capable of carrying rail vehicles were classed under TOPS as Class 99. Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. The joint hovercraft services of British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) in association with the French SNCF. British Rail Hovercraft Limited was established in 1965, under authority given to it by the British Railways Act 1967 and started its first service in 1966. Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover, England to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France"
"Hoverspeed's parent company Sea Containers Ltd after the original Superseacat design built by Austal Ships failed to meet the speed required. In service with Hoverspeed 1999–2004. Left fleet in 2004, chartered. In serviced with Hoverspeed 1997, 1999 and 2001. Left fleet in 2001, sold. In service with Hoverspeed 2001. Left fleet in 2001, returned to SeaCat. After years of losses due to strong competition and the Channel Tunnel link, Hoverspeed announced that they would cease operations on the Dover–Calais route, ending over 40 years of service. The last ferry run was on 7 November 2005. It was initially thought that"
"Forth (marketed as """"Forthfast"""") between Portobello (Edinburgh) and Kirkcaldy 16–28 July 2007. Hovertravel Hovertravel is a ferry company operating from Southsea, Portsmouth to Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK. It is the only passenger hovercraft company currently operating in Britain since Hoverspeed stopped using its craft in favour of catamarans. Hovertravel is now the world's oldest hovercraft operator, and this service is believed to be unique in western Europe. The service commenced operations in 1965 and currently operates two hovercraft on a single route between Ryde and Southsea, although it formerly operated also between Ryde and Gosport, and Cowes and Southampton."
"Hoverspeed operated the route until 2004. Because the French government did not want the route to be lost, they started a new subsidised company by the name of Transmanche Ferries in April 2001. After five years of successful service and the arrival of two newbuilds, the government decided to tender the line in a concession. The contract to operate the service was awarded to LD Lines on 21 December 2006. For this service they will receive an annual subsidy of up to €14.6 million. LD Lines commenced sailings on this route on 1 May 2007. In addition to three round"
"between Dieppe and Newhaven. The SNCF and later SNAT operated the route until 1992, when they withdrew after poor performance due to almost constant strike action. The route later passed to Sealink Stena Line (later renamed Stena Sealink Line and finally Stena Line). The route became part of P&O Stena Line with the merger of the company's Eastern Channel services and they operated the route until 1998, after which Hoverspeed operated a fast-ferry service on the route until 2004. Because the French local government did not want the route to be lost, they started a subsidized line called Transmanche Ferries"
"Hovertravel Hovertravel is a ferry company operating from Southsea, Portsmouth to Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK. It is the only passenger hovercraft company currently operating in Britain since Hoverspeed stopped using its craft in favour of catamarans. Hovertravel is now the world's oldest hovercraft operator, and this service is believed to be unique in western Europe. The service commenced operations in 1965 and currently operates two hovercraft on a single route between Ryde and Southsea, although it formerly operated also between Ryde and Gosport, and Cowes and Southampton. The service operates between Southsea Common on the English mainland and Ryde"
"in 1953. On 25 August 1927, the locomotive and the first car of a two-car train derailed on the Montenvers viaducts, killing 15 people and injuring 30 others. Chemin de fer du Montenvers The Montenvers Railway or Chemin de fer du Montenvers is a rack railway line in the Haute-Savoie region of France. The line runs from a connection with the SNCF, in Chamonix, to the ""Hotel de Montenvers"" station, at the Mer de Glace, at an altitude of . The line is long and has a track gauge of . It is a rack and adhesion railway, using the"
"almost 17.1 metre (56.1 ft) long section. This increased the passenger capacity of the craft from 254 passengers to 418. This also increased the car capacity to a total of 60. Following the closure of the service in 2000 only The Princess Anne now remains preserved at the Hovercraft Museum. A French-built N500 Naviplane (number N500-02, """") was constructed in 1977 for for use on Seaspeed services. This craft proved less successful than the SR-N4 models and was withdrawn in the early 1980s. Seaspeed also operated services across the Solent using two smaller, passenger-only, SR-N6 hovercraft named ""Sea Hawk"" and"
"Chemin de fer du Montenvers The Montenvers Railway or Chemin de fer du Montenvers is a rack railway line in the Haute-Savoie region of France. The line runs from a connection with the SNCF, in Chamonix, to the ""Hotel de Montenvers"" station, at the Mer de Glace, at an altitude of . The line is long and has a track gauge of . It is a rack and adhesion railway, using the Strub rack system to overcome a height difference of . Except for the terminal stations, which are operated in adhesion mode, the line has a gradient varying from"
"in southern England. The French and Belgian parts of the network are shared with Paris–Brussels Thalys services and also with TGV trains. In the United Kingdom the two-stage Channel Tunnel Rail Link project was completed on 14 November 2007 and renamed ""High Speed 1"", when the London terminus of Eurostar changed from Waterloo International to St Pancras International. Until 2010, Eurostar was operated jointly by the national railway companies of France and Belgium, SNCF and SNCB/NMBS, and Eurostar (UK) Ltd (EUKL), a subsidiary of London and Continental Railways (LCR), which also owned the high-speed infrastructure and stations on the British"
"form ""Hoverspeed"", which operated six SR.N4 of all marks. In all operations, while the craft were occasionally damaged, there was loss of life only once when, on 30 March 1985, the ""Princess Margaret"" was blown onto a breakwater at Dover and four passengers were killed. The last of the craft was withdrawn from service in October 2000 and Hoverspeed itself ceased operations in November 2005. The Royal Navy considered a mine sweeping version of the SR.N4, hovercraft being almost invulnerable to mines. This never got further than the concept stage, although an SR.N3 was used by the Inter-Service Hovercraft Unit"
"Rhône Express Regional The Geneva RER or Rhône Express Regional is a commuter railway service which runs between Geneva Cornavin Station, Switzerland (where it mostly uses the dedicated Platform 5) and La Plaine (Swiss terminus) and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine in France. It forms part of the Lyon-Geneva Railway. It is probably not a coincidence that the initials correspond to the Paris suburban railway commuter network RER. This line used to be electrified at 1500 V DC and signalled to SNCF standards from the border to both Geneva's central passenger station and La Praille goods depot. Prior to the introduction of the ""RER"""
"France. The hovercraft was superseded by catamarans which are nearly as fast and are less affected by sea and weather conditions. Only one service now remains, a foot passenger service between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight run by Hovertravel. Since 1990 high speed Catamarans have revolutionised ferry services, replacing hovercraft, hydrofoils and conventional monohull ferries. In the 1990s there were a variety of builders, but the industry has consolidated to two builders of large vehicular ferries between 60 and 120 metres. Incat of Hobart, Tasmania favours a Wave-piercing hull to deliver a smooth ride, while Austal of Perth, Western"
"Greece for Seajets as Sea Speed Jet. Built for Sea Containers Ltd Stranraer - Belfast SeaCat service, which in 2000 changed to Belfast - Troon which is only 30 minutes from Glasgow, the service closing altogether, on Monday 1 November 2004. ""SeaCat Scotland"" left Belfast seemingly for ever on Thursday 28 November 2002 at 0600. She has operated for Hoverspeed on the Dover - Calais route in 1992, 2003 and 2004. In service with Hoverspeed 2003 - 2004. Left fleet in 2004, sold in 2007. Now operating in Greece for Seajets as HSC Cyclades Express. Four Superseacats were ordered by"
"The LGV SEA brings high-speed rail service to southwestern France and connects the ""régions"" of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie with the high-speed rail service of Northern Europe, which connects Paris to London, Brussels, Amsterdam and beyond. The trip between Paris and Bordeaux takes around two hours and ten minutes at a top speed of 320 km/h. The inter-city links between Tours, Poitiers, Angoulême, and Bordeaux are also improved, and southwestern France is better connected to various parts of the country and to the rest of Europe. The project is also a response to the heavy traffic on the existing rail line."
"costly and no new design or build was likely. Indeed, ‘’Sure’’ was taken out of service in 1983 and cannibalised for parts to keep the rest of the fleet operating. Seaspeed (and later Hoverspeed) operated a single French built SEDAM N500 craft from 1977 but it was beset by design and operational problems and was withdrawn from somewhat sporadic service in 1983 and later scrapped. By 1980, it was obvious that cross Channel hovercraft operation could only continue economically if the two operating companies merged, with consequent rationalisation. Therefore, Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed merged in 1981, to create Hoverspeed. The former"